# Question on being blind **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 10, 2011, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-on-being-blind/599208 "2011-10-10T18:31:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Laggard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de053/32.png) [@Laggard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laggard)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2011, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-on-being-blind/599208/1 "2011-10-10T18:31:20Z")
In all seriousness, how would someone who is blind know if they were blood in their shit and thus be aware that there may be a problem? Or also, as Jerry Seinfeld wondered, how would you know if there were bugs in your food? ---
**Author:** ![Agent\_Foxtrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc29f/32.png) [@Agent\_Foxtrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agent_Foxtrot)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2011, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-on-being-blind/599208/2 "2011-10-10T18:53:40Z")
Without sonar, how do you walk through a pitch dark room without tripping over the ottoman? People manage. ---
**Author:** ![Laggard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de053/32.png) [@Laggard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laggard)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2011, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-on-being-blind/599208/3 "2011-10-10T19:52:55Z")
And how would you know if there was a big stain on your shirt? Or if you had ink on your nose? ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2011, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-on-being-blind/599208/4 "2011-10-10T19:58:04Z")
How do people without X-ray vision know if they have cancer? ---
**Author:** ![Laggard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de053/32.png) [@Laggard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laggard)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2011, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-on-being-blind/599208/5 "2011-10-10T20:12:19Z")
> [@robert\_columbia](#): > > How do people without X-ray vision know if they have cancer? Nobody has xray vision so you can’t compare those who do and those who don’t. There are basic things we all look for. Missing blood in fecal matter could be critical and it seems like a huge disadvantage not to be able to spot it. ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2011, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-on-being-blind/599208/6 "2011-10-10T20:25:58Z")
How would a deaf person know that the entire room could hear their farts? ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2011, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-on-being-blind/599208/7 "2011-10-10T20:35:57Z")
> [@rachelellogram](#): > > How would a deaf person know that the entire room could hear their farts? Worse than that, how would a person with anosmia know if others can smell his farts? ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2011, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-on-being-blind/599208/8 "2011-10-10T20:40:34Z")
> [@Laggard](#): > > In all seriousness, how would someone who is blind know if they were blood in their shit and thus be aware that there may be a problem? If it’s _really_ bad they might be able to notice the smell of blood. It’s not that blind people have a super-keen sense of smell so much as they tend to notice odors more, not being so distracted by visual stimuli. > [@](#): > > Or also, as Jerry Seinfeld wondered, how would you know if there were bugs in your food? If the rice you just put in your mouth tries to crawl or squirm I’d say that’s a clue… ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2011, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-on-being-blind/599208/9 "2011-10-10T20:41:34Z")
> [@Laggard](#): > > Nobody has xray vision so you can’t compare those who do and those who don’t. > > There are basic things we all look for. Missing blood in fecal matter could be critical and it seems like a huge disadvantage not to be able to spot it. There are more things that can kill you that you can’t see than things that can. That’s why we have annual physicals. If I lost my sight, I’d be more worried about tripping or being hit by a car than about missing blood in my stool. Not to mention keeping my job and thereby my health insurance. I think the easy answer to the first question is that they wouldn’t. I was going to say that most sighted people don’t know either because it looks black rather than red, but[wiki did not confirm that](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_in_stool). Apparently depending on the quantity and location of the bleeding, it can be black, red, or not show at all. So the phrase “fecal occult blood” has entered my life. No mention was made of any change in smell. Sightist bastards. How do you know that there aren’t bugs in _ **your** _ food? The FDA “Food Defect Action Levels” for insects depends on which food is being monitored. This site - [http://www.sixwise.com/newsletters/05/06/29/](http://www.sixwise.com/newsletters/05/06/29/) - says: “An Ohio University fact sheet estimates that we eat from one to two pounds of insects each year, and without knowing it.” Another quote, same source: “They’re actually pretty healthy,” says Dr. Philip Nixon, an entomologist at the University of Illinois, in regard to insects, “If we were more willing to accept certain defect levels such as insects and insect parts, growers could reduce pesticide usage. Some of the spraying that goes on is directly related to the aesthetics of our food.” So, being blind would suck. But I wouldn’t be calling anyone in to inspect things before I flushed. And as long as everything tasted okay, I wouldn’t worry about the possibility of bugs. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2011, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-on-being-blind/599208/10 "2011-10-10T20:59:49Z")
> [@Laggard](#): > > In all seriousness, how would someone who is blind know if they were blood in their shit and thus be aware that there may be a problem? I don’t know. Do normal people look at their crap to make sure there’s blood in it? It never occurs to me to do that. ---
**Author:** ![Laggard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de053/32.png) [@Laggard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laggard)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2011, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-on-being-blind/599208/11 "2011-10-10T21:23:04Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > I don’t know. Do normal people look at their crap to make sure there’s blood in it? It never occurs to me to do that. You probly should take a gander once in a while. Especially if you’re not at the age where you’re getting scoped every couple years. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2011, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-on-being-blind/599208/12 "2011-10-10T21:25:05Z")
It’s definitely a good way to get out of work, so that’s one less excuse blind people have for calling in sick. “I’m sorry boss, I can’t come in today because I have… _BLOOD IN MY STOOL_” ---
**Author:** ![Laggard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de053/32.png) [@Laggard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laggard)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2011, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-on-being-blind/599208/13 "2011-10-10T21:27:17Z")
Stool is such an awful word for shit. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2011, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-on-being-blind/599208/14 "2011-10-10T21:50:00Z")
> [@Laggard](#): > > Nobody has xray vision so you can’t compare those who do and those who don’t. Apparently you’ve never heard of my friend Superman. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2011, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-on-being-blind/599208/15 "2011-10-11T02:23:48Z")
> [@Laggard](#): > > Nobody has xray vision so you can’t compare those who do and those who don’t. > > There are basic things we all look for. Missing blood in fecal matter could be critical and it seems like a huge disadvantage not to be able to spot it. I can think of a few things that a blind person _might_, just might, consider to be more substantially disadvantageous in their lives’ than not being able to look down at their poop in the toilet. ---
**Author:** ![Laggard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de053/32.png) [@Laggard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laggard)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2011, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-on-being-blind/599208/16 "2011-10-11T03:08:03Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#): > > I can think of a few things that a blind person _might_, just might, consider to be more substantially disadvantageous in their lives’ than not being able to look down at their poop in the toilet. Well duh. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2011, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-on-being-blind/599208/17 "2011-10-11T03:29:29Z")
> [@Laggard](#): > > Stool is such an awful word for shit. A shitty word, you might say. ---
**Author:** ![EvilTOJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee59a6/32.png) [@EvilTOJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilTOJ)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2011, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-on-being-blind/599208/18 "2011-10-11T11:27:05Z")
> [@Agent\_Foxtrot](#): > > Without sonar, how do you walk through a pitch dark room without tripping over the ottoman? I read this as “how do you walk through a pitchfork room without tripping over the ottoman” and I was confused for a second. How do blind people know when to stop wiping? Why do blind people need pitchfork rooms? ---
**Author:** ![Laggard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de053/32.png) [@Laggard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laggard)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2011, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-on-being-blind/599208/19 "2011-10-11T13:30:55Z")
> [@EvilTOJ](#): > > How do blind people know when to stop wiping? Well I was wondering that too but figured asking would only result in some smartass saying something like “well how do ducks know when to stop quacking???” ---
**Author:** ![Cryptic\_C62](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@Cryptic\_C62](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cryptic_C62)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2011, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-on-being-blind/599208/20 "2011-10-11T13:46:06Z")
Why have I never seen a blind person at the gym? I’ve asked this question in full seriousness to multiple people, and they always say the same thing: “Because blind people don’t care about how they look.” The human race has spontaneously decided that looking fit is by default more important than actually being fit. And we also seem to have forgotten that weightlifting can be a very fun, satisfying activity, and there’s no reason to think that this wouldn’t be true for the blind as well. So, yeah: why have I never seen a blind person at the gym? Also, why don’t blind ducks quack when they’re in their pitchfork room? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-on-being-blind/599208.md?page=2)